I Am Here
by Northernryu
Summary: Sasuke&Kyuubi.The stuck up young Uchiha finds a little fox, who he finds, very similar to himself and starts to create a strong bond. A young fox with nine tails who exists, yet existence not acknowledged by the other foxes, from being different to others. But he doesn't want to be special. Just wanting to be acknowledged by others and fit in. Just like young Sasuke...
1. Chapter 1:Little furry existence

Disclaimer: The characters of Naruto and settings are all owned by Masashi Kishimoto not me.

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I am here -Existing before your eyes- Sasu x kitsune story

俺はここにいる -目の前に存在しているｰ

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Chapter 1: Little furry existence

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Surrounded in nature, the Uchiha residents was peacefully greeted by a walk up call from elegant chirping of birds, sounding beautiful like crystal ornaments colliding together in the warm, gentle morning wind of late spring. But a small figure was missing from the Uchiha photo frame of this morning like usual.

It was the youngest Uchiha, who was an early waker and practiced his ninja techniques, wishing to keep up to the back of and admirable elder brother. Unfortunately, since this little Uchiha was the second son, he bare got any attention from his father and received nothing all the time.

His father passed by the training boy every morning, always without a word of encouragement or praise, but a mere morning greeting, "ohayo."

"…Ohayo gozaimasu," the little one always replied back, hiding disappointment, till a point that he chose to train alone in the forest. After his usual routine of training, he would go to a riverbed nearby and sulk from not being able to do anything as good as his elder brother.

"Sasuke," a voice called from behind the sitting figure of the youngest Uchiha.

"…Nii-san," Sasuke replied, after looking back towards his big brother, Itachi, who came to find Sasuke.

"You were here again, sulking," Itachi stated more than asked.

Sasuke turned away in a manner that Itachi always had to cope with and he sighed inwardly, although his curve of smile never faded from his lips.

Itachi patted Sasuke's spiked up, raven-coloured hair that hid Sasuke's pouting face from Itachi's view.

"Breakfast should be ready soon. Come along, Sasuke," Itachi gestured towards the house which was completely ignored by Sasuke.

"I'm not hungry," Sasuke grumbled in his low tone of voice that showed no hint of affection or respect.

"My, my. You should change your attitude before you come back home or tou-san will tell you off again," Itachi said before leaving the little brother sulking to his arms and knees.

_Tou-san only sees nii-san in his vision!_

_He never looks at me no matter how hard I train!_

_Tou-san is always concerned about nii-san. Always!_

…_Only if I was born first._

_If only I was better than nii-san for everything._

_Itachi! Itachi! Itachi! _

_That's all he says!_

All Sasuke wanted was acknowledgement from his father. That he was there, existing, right behind Itachi as a second son. Not trash that was a shame to his father or even worth noticing.

Sasuke was in a very bad mood while many negative thoughts ran through his mind.

Awhile later, a sound of a small, young mammal reached Sasuke's ears and he looked down at the furry creature beside him.

It was a young fox that was probably born this early spring.

After identifying the source of the cooing, or rather mewing, Sasuke's head fell back into place, into his folded arms, not caring the least for the mewing young animal.

The little fox snuggled up to one of Sasuke's legs to which Sasuke harshly kicked the creature away.

The fox got rolled away like a melon sized fur ball appearance. Nevertheless, the furry little one advanced towards Sasuke again, this time making an attempt to lick Sasuke's arm.

Sasuke, who was an immature 7 year old child, had no affection for animals and had slapped the fox away.

"i_What do you want!?_/i" Sasuke demanded, glaring down at the little one who started whining very quietly, its eyes asking for small affection or attention, to which Sasuke gave none.,

"Get lost, kuso-gitsune*!" Sasuke growled and once again, back to his original position, into his world of his arms and legs.

By Sasuke's words, the furry creature wounded his heart that will probably leave a scar, but something about Sasuke made the little fox dare to near him again until Sasuke's rage exploded and he kicked harder at the fox than he meant to, along with an angry swear, from pain.

The young fox had bit Sasuke's left arm, just above the elbow, clearly leaving an erasable mark which was now slipping blood from underneath the skin, down to his elbow and dripping to the grey and white ground of rock and sand.

The pain lost to Sasuke's shock and the stinging in his arm was no longer his concern, not in his mind the slightest, compared to what Sasuke was seeing.

Sasuke had kicked the little fox that was no longer furry but wet and presently drowning in the wide, slow flowing river. The young Uchiha felt guilt washing over his body, but his legs didn't move.

In his mind, was a quick-decision-panicking debate was held.

_'You over did it!'_

'_Serves it right!'_

'_It's a wild animal, not at fault'!_

'_But it bit me!'_

'_It licked you first but you ignored it!'_

'_So what! It can probably swim to shore on its own! It's got instincts and the shore's not far away'_

'_But look! It's drowning! Help it!'_

'_Why should I!?'_

'_Help it! It's gonna drown! It's gonna die!'_

At panicking times like this, people can think many thoughts so fast in a second, but that did not bother nor occur as a curious question asked upon himself since he had to jump into the icy cold river of the early morning, disturbing the surface of the water irregularly and making irregular wavefronts with heavily mixed amplitudes.

Even though Sasuke was not such a kind hearted child who cared about other than himself, he was still human, and about the fox, he let his instincts take in action.

A few inches underwater, Sasuke found the drowning fox which was no longer thrusting about, but falling quietly as if it was a dry, yellow momiji* leaf of a deciduous tree in autumn, falling into blue-green darkness.

Sasuke pulled in the water before him, grabbing motion not helping much with his velocity, his clothes not helping him the slightest but actually doing the direct opposite, pulling back along with weighing him down which slowed him down.

But despite those facts, Sasuke swam rapidly to reach the fox as soon as possible.

As soon as he caught hold of the young fox, Sasuke rushed up to the gleaming white surface to breathe out everything he had storing and building up in his lungs, and fill it up with fresh air with more than a deep welcome, forgiving the fact that it was a little stingy against his throat.

But without much rest for his weak and tense limbs from moving anaerobically underwater, Sasuke swam to shore, never leaving his sight off from the limp, unconscious little fox.

Sasuke did not have much knowledge of a fox, but he acted quick, assuming animals were all the same, holding the young fox's little feet and dangling it upside down while swaying to back and forth to let out unwanted water out of its lungs. An action which is to be done for preventing drowning cats from death.

This was when Sasuke realised, widening his eyes, that this little fox he was holding, had _multiple tails_.

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*Vocab:

-Kuso-gitsune: (Whatever insult you may think of)-fox. All insults are basically the same. Fox is initially 'kitsune' but when it has something attached before the kitsune, it turns into 'gitsune'. For example, Antartctic fox, would be Hokkyoku-i_gitsune/i_

-Momiji:_Acer palmatum_, called Japanese Maple. Usually the image is red, but actually has a range of colours with different variation


	2. Chapter 2:Same world

_Sasuke did not have much knowledge of a fox, but he acted quick, assuming animals were all the same, holding the young fox's little feet __and dangling it upside down while swaying to back and forth to let out unwanted water out of its lungs. An action which is to be done for preventing drowning cats from death._

_This was when Sasuke realised, widening his eyes, that this little fox he was holding, had multiple tails_

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Chapter 2: Same world

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_Hn. No wonder it looked like a momiji*… _Sasuke thought.

After the little fox coughed and spluttered, realising all the contents in the lungs, it was set down and it curled up into a ball, from pain, terror and confusion.

For the first time in life, the young, stuck up Uchiha felt sorry and guilt for the tiny fur ball creature.

He patted the little creature which jerked at his touch from fear.

It was because Sasuke had nearly drowned it, not to mention physical violence before hand.

"…I'm sorry," Sasuke quietly muttered to the fluffy fur ball, his voice sounding fully apologetic.

It was probably the first time Sasuke ever said those simple words which had much more meaning than an essay, a book or an encyclopaedia when a person truly meant the words and say it clearly.

The feeling reached the small fox, understanding those words and lifted its head, the dark, crimson eyes staring hard into deep onyx eyes of Sasuke's who held out a hand before the fox.

The fox licked the palm as if it was accepting Sasuke's apology, and then crashed its head onto the palm, having no energy to support itself anymore.

Sasuke panicked and ran all the way home, carrying the dripping wet fox, secured carefully between two thin, pale arms and a thumping chest.

The one to spot the young Uchiha running towards home was Itachi who saw Sasuke's worry-filled look and became concerned.

"What's wrong?" Itachi asked the panting little Uchiha who reached the Uchiha residents at last.

Sasuke held the little fox before Itachi who quickly understood the health of the poor creature by looking at it and took it in.

"…is it… gonna be aright?" Sasuke asked, uninterestedly, trying not to sound too worried that will hint Sasuke's feelings of how he cares much about the fluffy fur ball who was at rest in a basket with warm blankets covering its body along with the multiple tails.

Itachi saw through his little brother and gave the usual kind smile although quite surprised to see the stuck up little one being so worried and anxious.

"This little one can heal on its own, and quite rapidly, actually. Very unusual but that seems to be the case," Itachi explained, and then added,"No need to worry, Sasuke."

"…I'm not worried," Sasuke muttered to the floor, where his view soon turned from the floor to his elder brother.

Itachi had pulled Sasuke's small, left arm and started to wrap a clean, white bandage around the wound that was received from the fox which Sasuke forgot about till now.

The wound had sealed its passage from letting any blood out and had been cleanly washed off from the river during underwater and Itachi had no need to tend the wound in any way except pulling over a bandage around it to prevent the fragile wound from opening again or get infected.

As he did so, he spoke to Sasuke," the little fox here is just like you, Sasuke."

Sasuke laid out a confused and doubtful expression on his face.

"Trying to do anything that will catch attention and get acknowledged, trying to point out your existence, saying 'I'm here'," Itachi said, pin-pointing Sasuke's feelings and actions which made Sasuke form a small flush against his pale cheeks from embarrassment.

Not wanting to admit it, Sasuke turned away with a small, "hmph!"

"I'll leave the rest to you," said Itachi as he playfully prodded a couple of fingers upon Sasuke's forehead.

Sasuke winced and rubbed his forehead while glaring at his brother's back till it was out of sight.

Sasuke turned his attention on the fox, to his wound, and back to the fox again.

"Hn! Well _you_ did a good job at proving your _little_ _existence_," Sasuke muttered sarcastically at the little fox that seemed to have woke up and was staring hard at Sasuke as if trying to understand Sasuke's words.

The fox cooed as if it pleaded for something.

"Don't coo at me! I don't have anything for you," Sasuke snapped, annoyed.

He hated irritating voices that sounded whiny and yellow.

The little fox placed both its furry paws on the edge of the basket, wanting to be closer to the young Uchiha but finding that it can't support its body weight out of the basket.

It cooed at Sasuke again, trying to communicate in attempt for asking help, but Sasuke angrily stared at the fox.

"I hate whiny voices and high tones, so shut up. Be lucky that you're even here to be taken care of!" Sasuke said harshly that stopped the little fox completely.

Hesitatingly, the furry thing tried again, putting its fear aside and asking for help out of the basket.

Sasuke looked down at the little furry creature a little surprised, noticing the cooing tone lowered as if it had understood Sasuke's words.

The furry paws was put down the back up onto the edge of the basket, to which Sasuke took the hint and lifted the feather-light baby fox which was much different to the weight when Sasuke carried it dripping wet.

Before lowering it down, Sasuke checked whether the fox was a male or a female.

Finding the young fox being a male, Sasuke somewhat felt relieved, but not sure why.

He placed the fox on the tatami* where it sat quietly like a stuffed toy.

The young Uchiha took the chance of this stillness and counted his its tails.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5… is that 6?" Sasuke said, looking at one that was smaller and shorter than the rest.

Realising that the fox was getting some attention by the young Uchiha, it swished all its tail a few times with joy, but with lack of energy restored, it couldn't jump around, thought it was enough to amuse the little Uchiha.

It seemed he found a liking towards the furry golden fox a little.

Sasuke playfully tugged on the smallest tail to which the little fox's tail twitched and curled it behind, out of Sasuke's reach.

Another attempt by reaching around the fox made the fox pull it between its legs and hide it with its body, but Sasuke knew the fox was enjoying the play from its reactions since the little fox swished the other tails excitingly like a dog wagging tis tail.

This was the first time that Sasuke got a proper response at something he did, and it eventually made him form a small smile.

What Sasuke didn't know, was that it was the first time the fox got a response from someone too.

Looking at the smiling face of Sasuke's, the little fox stared at him with big, round, crimson eyes, storing this image deep into its mind, and also falling in love with it.

The little fox rolled over and showed its less golden chest where Sasuke scratched it with care.

Loving the feeling, the little one cooed lowly, but happily.

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**Cye**: Definitely not the last chapter.

Vocab

-Momiji:_ Acer palmatum_, called Japanese Maple. Usually the image is red, but actually has a range of colours with different variation

-Tatami: Thick woven straw mats that are used instead of carpet.


	3. Chapter 3:Naming

Chapter 3:Naming

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A couple of weeks later, Itachi found Sasuke lost in thought while the little golden fox was between Sasuke's legs, wavering its tail slowly, one at a time like a calm wave of the sea in a tropical island.

"What are you doing, Sasuke?" Itachi asked and Sasuke turned his head around.

"I'm thinking of a name for this fox," Sasuke said.

"Have you thought of one?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke frowned and shook his head. He turned his eyes back on the fox, Itachi following the suit.

"…How about the number of tails he has?" Itachi suggested after awhile, since the fox kept Itachi's attention on the swaying talks all this time.

"Like as in 'Roku' or 'Mu'?" Sasuke asked.

"No, because it's got seven tails. See?" Itachi answered, pointing at the swishing tails.

"Eh?" Sasuke held up the fox high where it dropped its tail and became still, as if knowing what Sasuke was doing.

Sasuke counted them and his eyes grew wide.

"But when I counted them, it was _six _last time!" Sasuke exclaimed, shocked," how's that possible!?"

"It means you're not very observant, Sasuke. This fox grew another tail. So the name I was thinking was 'Hichibi'" Itachi explained and Sasuke stifled a giggle.

"Hi_chibi_…" Sasuke repeated.

The fox gave a scowl, knowing Sasuke was somehow laughing at him and was being made fun of.

It head butted at the laughing Uchiha with such force that it sent the two to the tatami ground.

"Oww…" Sasuke growled while the little fox whined lowly and pulled its paws to its forehead.

It seems that the fox did it harder than it meant to.

"So, what's the 'bi' for nii-san?" Sasuke asked, rubbing his forehead furiously, trying to make the pain go away.

"'Bi' is tails. The kanji off 'po' from 'shippo'. You haven't learnt that kanji yet, Sasuke?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke shamefully shifted his gaze away from his elder brother.

This was why Sasuke hated Itachi. The way he talked as if mocking him.

Itachi knew himself that he was mocking Sasuke, but he couldn't help teasing his little brother since he was so cute.

"…So we have to wait to see how many more tails are gonna come out," Sasuke said, matter-of-factly after awhile.

Itachi frowned.

"Why is that?"

We have to wait and see how many tails its gonna grow," Sasuke replied.

"How do you know it's gonna grow more?" Itachi asked.

"I _don't._ That's why we're gonna wait and see if it ends here," Sasuke explained, "in the meantime, I'm gonna call it…"

Sasuke paused to think, but he didn't need to much longer when there was a crash of plates heard in the kitchen.

The little fox was startled of the noise and made him jump under Sasuke's desk for cover while Itachi rushed over to his mother's aid, and as for Sasuke, he smirked from his decision made.

"Bibiri-kun*," Sasuke finished off his sentence from before.

Sasuke stretched his arms underneath the low desk and pulled the little fox out.

"Your nickname for now is Bibiri-kun. Okay?" Sasuke said it straight to the fox, held up high, who cocked his head to one side with a question mark.

With that, Sasuke called the fox 'Bibiri-kun' and the fox slowly came to understand that that was what Sasuke had called him.

A month and a half passed and Sasuke found that this little fox ended with the ninth tail.

"So… we're gonna call it 'Kyuubi'?" Sasuke asked, staring at the fox in front of him which he held gently.

"Seems so," Itachi smiled, also looking down at the golden fox which wasn't so small anymore but the size of a shiba* dog.

"'Kyuubi' is your name, okay?" Sasuke said to the fox which swished all its tails in delight, not at the new name given since it didn't understand fully what the young Uchiha was saying, but from knowing what Sasuke said, made Sasuke happy and the fox knew this because Sasuke had smiled, and that made the fox happy too.

Itachi noticed that with the fox here, Sasuke seemed to smile a lot more often.

He was lad for that fact. But things started not going well when the were greeted by summer where the fox started _moulting_.

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**Cye:** Thanks for reading. Once again, definitely not the end. More to come.

Vocab:

Bibiri-kun= Bibiru means 'get freaked out'. This is what Sasuke called Naruto when Naruto first had experience with real ninjas attacked them. Sasuke defending and attacking back while Naruto stood, watching in fear. After sometime when Sasuke was facing Orochimaru and his huge snake, Sasuke was rooted to the ground (branch) unable to move from fear when Naruto stopped the huge snake and looked up at Sasuke, calling him 'Bibiri-kun'.

Shiba=Is a type of a Japanese dog.


End file.
